If You Would Marry Me
by SoulofFireHeartofDragon
Summary: Before they ever had Hiccup, they had each other; but how had this love come to be? A group of Stoik/Valka one-shots focusing on their relationship.Will be anywhere from humor to tragedy. Because who didn't love them in the new movie? Obvious HTTYD 2 spoilers, requests welcome, no slash, T because I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Spoilers for the second movie. Not beta'd.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to do with How To Train Your Dragon, this is all for pure fun. I will return the characters when finished. **

* * *

Weather worn hands paused at the door considering whether or not to make the brave move to knock. Arms making the decision for him, he pulled back the shaking limbs so that they could rest by his side. He would come back another day, he decided.

Turning his back to the door, he didn't notice the movement from within the small house until something soft plundered into his side.

"Stoik!" It yelped, "Forgive me; I hadn't seen you standin' there."

"No need to," he stopped.

Large green eyes looked up at him as he fought to conjure any chance for words that he had left. Licking his lips he gave what he thought was a nod and some other hand gestures that he prayed to Odin would convey what he was trying to get across. _"I'm not sitting awkwardly in front of your house debating whether or not to confront your father." _

Looking away, he blushed as she giggled, "Yer goin' to have to use yer words," she said, "I don't speak sign language."

Turning away to hide the redness of his cheeks that simply was not going to stay hidden, he coughed, before making a move to speak.

"I was," he paused as his voice squeaked and the blush spread to his ears, "I was – erm – waiting to speak to yer father, about…" he left it hanging.

Looking up, he smiled as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear, "He's inside sitting, Stoik. You coming to speak about, well, whatever you plan to speak about," she stopped to chuckle when he turned away again to hide the even deeper shade of red that was blossoming on his cheeks.

"As I was saying," she bent down and picked up a basket that she had set by her side, "He's inside, sittin' readin', you'll not disturb him by coming inside."

Nodding, he watched her go. Smiling fading, he took in the large door which barricaded his way. "Odin, help me," he prayed.

* * *

Not knowing what to expect, he wasn't surprised when he was met with the simply done abode. Valka's family wasn't ever one that he took to be ornate; you get your work done and that's enough. The rest of your time is spent with family.

Further in revealed an even larger room which he could only assume was the living area, where her father was seated reading from old transcripts in front of the fire. Finally becoming close and real, he wasn't sure how to proceed. He had thought out the scenario many times in his head, but that meant nothing if he couldn't act on how he had decided.

Steeling himself, he took further steps in. Slowly, he came to the edge of her father's seat where he paused again. He fought to not bite his lip, what a bad impression that would make, and readied himself to begin the conversation that he had so often replayed in his head.

"Sir," the old man looked up from where he was seated and smiled.

"Yer Hiccup's boy."

Stoik nodded at the declaration, not quite sure of himself on how to proceed. "Aye."

The man seemed to approve of his answer, and gestured to a worn chair on the opposite side of the room. Taking one last look at the door, he awkwardly shuffled to the seat. Cringing as it creaked from under his weight, he turned to the older man who had since put down the wilting documents.

"I expect that yer here to ask for her hand," her father stated, "seeing as I've never seen you anywhere near here except to be around her."

Stoik paused unsure on how to proceed; when he had thought this through he never accounted for her father knowing the reason he was there. His long explanation on how he would take care of her died on his lips as he realized the man wouldn't need an explanation. Glancing at his face, Stoik gathered that, yes, a no or yes answer would suffice. To say it put him back would be the understatement of the island. Her father continued to stare at him from under bushy eyebrows before he laughed and clapped Stoik on the shoulder.

"Having trouble with words?" The old man joked, "I remember when I proposed to her mother. When I had gone to her father, to say it did not end well, well; the older man was something else, that's fer sure."

Stoik forced a laugh as the man leaned back in his chair while deep rumbles echoed through his chest. Feeling very small, and a bit overwhelmed at how lighthearted the situation was playing out, Stoik fought to control himself from bolting through the door. As the silence became more probable, Stoik coughed to clear his throat effectively cutting off the other man's bout of laughter.

"Well, um, I did come to ask ye," he began.

Pausing to make sure the man made no rejection, Stoik continued, "Valka means a lot to me, which I'm sure she means more to you than I will ever know, but I promise you that I will love her to my best abilities, and will make sure she has a roof over her head and food at the table…"

He stopped as the old man held his hand up, "Kind words, young man."

Biting his lip, Stoik nodded in gratitude, "Thank you sir."

"You may call me Baldir, as it seems you will be my son in law very soon."

Halting at his words Baldir stood to stoke the fire as Stoik took in all that he had said, "Sir, I mean Baldir, I haven't properly asked ye."

Baldir smiled, "Ay, you have too. I've seen the way you watch her with respect, and the way you spoil her. I see the way you listen to her when she talks, and support her when she falls." Looking him over, Baldir rested a heavy hand on his shoulder, "I couldn't ask anyone better to watch over my daughter." With that, her father sat back down in his furr lined chair and picked up his transcripts once again.

* * *

Glancing at the door like it provided every answer he sought, Stoik stood with every intention of leaving her father to read and coming back another day.

Walking to the door he froze as footsteps creaked across the floor.

"Rushing off to propose so soon?" Stoik looked over to where Baldir had spoken and paused. He probably should ask the host if he could leave. Wasn't that proper protocol?

Deciding that mustering words wouldn't work in the situation, he simply nodded. The man shook his head and for a moment Stoik felt panicked; he had done the wrong thing. Gods, Thor would probably smite him for this.

"Son," Baldir said as he got up from the chair and approached him, "You need a ring."

Stoik nodded, too overwhelmed to fully comprehend what he was agreeing to, as the man placed a small ornate box in his hand.

"It was her mother's, good luck," the man offered as an explanation, but nothing more was said as he went back to the fire.

For the first time that day, Stoik's lips curved into the proper words, "thank you sir."

When the man simply smiled, Stoik knew that his job there was done. All there was left to do was propose to Valka. With the day he had had, proposing felt like it would be the easiest task he would face in the near future.

Squaring his shoulders, Stoik pocketed the treasure and made his way back into the daylight. As it pierced his adjusting his eyes, his brain flew through ideas on how to present the ring to Valka. His Valka.

Whistling an old tune to himself, he made his way to the forge fully intending to tell his friend about the joyfully bizarre afternoon he had just been witness to.

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**I will update when I can, which looks to be maybe every Saturday or so. Requests for further one-shots are welcome. I don't write slash, and they need to be centered around Stoik and Valka. Doesn't necessarily have to be full out shipping.**

**As always, review, and let me know how well or poorly I did.**

**Thanks,**

**SoulofFireHeartofDragon **


	2. Gobber: part 1

**A/N: This is a long one, so skip if you want to, but I'm going to explain a few things. **

**1: Love the ideas I have received, thanks so much to those who reviewed, fav'd, and followed this story. You guys are awesome!**

**2: I apologize for the horribly late update, there is a ton of stuff that is happening in my life right now, a lot that's happened suddenly, but I promise I will make an effort to update quicker!**

**3: The Gobber plot, not quite turning out like I planned, will be two to three chapters long. After that, I'm not sure what I'm doing yet, but I've gotten a couple ideas. I'd love to get more!**

**4: I have no idea how long I want this story to be, so don't be shy with suggestions!**

**5: Finally, I apologize if this didn't turn out the way some of you thought it would, I'm shocked as well with what it became. I hope you still love it. As always, please read and review. I love hearing from you guys. **** (P.S.: Does anyone want a Christmas special one? I know it's early, but I would like to start working on something like that right now if possible. Also: would you want a chapter or a separate one-shot for it? Would love to hear what you think. ****)**

**Disclaimer: I don't HTTYD or HTTYD 2. (However, all mistakes are mine.)**

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"You can't expect her to say yes if you still have the bloody ring," shouted Gobber.

Stoik looked up from where he had been admiring the stone on the iron band to see Gobber desperately trying to yell over all the racket he was causing.

"Honestly, you are the thickest Viking I know. She probably doesn't even know you like her," his friend continued to rant. "Besides, didn't you say that her father had plans to move them over West?"

"He did," Stoik responded easily over the noise, "but then I asked for her hand, and now he says he has a reason to say. Or something along those lines…"

Gobber stopped from where he had been tirelessly hammering at a sword to take in his friend. Upon noticing the haggard appearance, he sighed, and went to dip the sword in water. "You can't keep this up," Gobber voiced, "you are either going to kill yourself from worrying or sleep deprivation."

Stoik nodded, not quite paying attention to what his friend was saying as Valka walked by the forge. Her chestnut hair caught the sun just right so that the light rays reflected all the best features in her face. Sighing, had hadn't caught that his friend had stopped talking until a sword was thrown heavily in front of him.

"You need to either propose to that woman, or take a bath," he said.

Pocketing the ring, Stoik made a hasty farewell before running out to catch up with her, decision already made. He was going to propose, bath or no.

Contradictory to the isolated hill's annual weather, Berk was feeling warm for a change. Waves of unwanted warmth thawed the island as the seas brought in the tropical weather of Spring. Or what Berk considered to be Spring, their climate wasn't what other islands considered to be natural. Somehow they managed to be on the receiving end of every winter wave that came from the North. Geographically they had yet to explain it. Whoever you asked, that is. She hadn't tried to ask some off lander yet, though she figured, judging from the rural people's customs, any outside opinion would be frowned upon and probably shunned as blasphemy.

Wrapping her cloak further around herself, despite the heat, Valka continued the long and wet track to the dining hall. The frosty ground hadn't mixed well with the sudden change in temperature, which left the terrain muddy and difficult to get through. It sucked at her boots and tried her legs. It hadn't helped that almost every homestead had been precariously built on a hill or ledge. Perfect for views, not so perfect for coming down when the planet itself seemed to consist of dirty slush.

As the dining hall came into her view, she switched paths so that her feet met with the packed gravel which led the way to the massive meeting center. Apparently the island hadn't seen a need for roads leading everywhere, for whatever reason, and only had small, narrow paths leading to the chief's home, and the two halls. Surrounding the paths were small puddles of water that glistened in the high afternoon sun. Or what was left of the sunlight, she thought bitterly to herself. Most of it had become hidden from view as clouds continued to move in throughout the afternoon. Much to her chagrin, the grey clouds were only foretellers of what was to come.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she stared up at the stairs that led to the large oak doors. Toes frozen, she began a painful walk up the slippery steps. She was one for exercise, but frozen bones and soaking wet staircases never were the best combination. Cautiously, she stopped at the top landing to look over Berk as she caught her breath. It was quite a sight to behold. While frustrating to walk on, the wet grass reflected beautifully under the fading sun, and the ocean itself casted brilliant colors whenever a stray ray of light reached it.

Taking one last breath to savor the moment, Valka mentally prepared herself to enter. Mixed feelings about the girls her age beckoned her to stay outside and perhaps find Helga. Her friend had mentioned wanting to go through some of the new techniques for carving that they had learned. It was also easier for them to simply be in each other's company. Neither had the penchant for dragon killing, or hunting, which caused a large rift between them and the other islanders their age. It was positively revolting, and highly frowned upon by others, to demote one's life from lack of dragon slaughtering. However, the girls found that they shared the same idea that there was more to life on Berk than dragon games. Valka had also tried to convince her friend that even killing the dragons was unnnessasary, but Helga was yet to be persuaded. Nevertheless, they got along well enough; it was their similar tastes that led to decent afternoons.

The sound of other teens rushing out from lunch brought her attention back to the present. While she was in no mood to face other girls who thought her absurd, she had promised her father that she would meet with him before she left to have the evening with Helga. Watching the teens leave she discretely moved to the side as to not be trampled. She would wait for the large wave of people to pass, because while the island was small, there was an abnormal amount of people that moon do to merchants. She would wiat to leave before braving what would be forced socialization on her part.

As a particularly rambunctious group of teens passed, she found herself being slowly moved back towards the top of the stairs. The slippery surface left nothing for the soles of her boots to find any purchase on as she began to slide. Teens paid her no heed as they all left, running down the steps to greet their parents in the markets. Alone, cold, and still sliding, she considered falling backwards to avoid the precarious drop, when the decision was swiftly made for her.

Letting out a cry of shock and fear, Valka found herself tumbling down that steps which she had recently climbed. The hard rock slammed against what felt like every inch of aching body, sending flares of pain in every which direction. A strong hit against her head had her gasping like a fish as she came to lie helpless at the bottom of the stairs. The other teens long gone, she was left along, sprawled awkwardly on the ground, wishing she could get into a more comfortable position.

Groaning, she rolled away from her left side which had taken the brunt of her fall. She opened her mouth to yell for help which did nothing but reveal a severely split lip, and what felt like broken ribs. "Oh, Valla," she cursed. She could try to pull herself into a sitting position, but just the thought of it had her side screaming in protest. "No," she mumbled. Luckily, only her ribs and left torso felt hurt. Her arms had miraculously survived the hard tumble. Biting her lip, she gently moved her legs to test for pain. Letting out a sigh of relief, she relaxed easily when no pain was felt. If her legs were fine she could easily make her way back up the stairs, the thought of being warm by the fire and being close to her father energized her.

Pushing herself to her knees, she grabbed the nearest step with both hands, and shakily rose to her feet. Fire was quick to erupt form her right side. With a gasp, she allowed herself to fall forward as her legs unwillingly collapsed from under her. The world spun as she took in the wet, dirty steps. She felt her head wound protest horribly while she continued to fall in what felt like low motion. Then it all stopped.

Inches from the steps, she stayed hovering. Blood dripped from her lip and unto the pale surface as she stared at it in confusion. She was dreaming. Valla, she must have hit her head hard to be hallucinating in such a horrid fashion.

"Easy," encouraged a rough voice.

That seemed to clear all confusion. She could now feel the strong hands which held her with ease. Gently, she was maneuvered from her awkward position from above the steps into her savior's lap. The same hands held her while shouting for help. She looked up; groaning as the movement jostled her head, and observed him as he remained carefully poised looking in the direction of the hall. He had dusty blond hair which grew carelessly around his shoulders. He was muscular and broad like every other Viking boy on the island.

She removed her gaze form him, not really interested in another man, and observed the sky which was now a dark grey. How long had she been out here? Better yet, why hadn't her father noticed?

The thoughts swirled incessantly and became mixed with footsteps which came not from the direction of the hall, but from the direction of the small village. "Hold on," the voice whispered again. He had a strong, but comical accent. She decided she liked it; it softened his hard exterior to a more likeable level. "I can see help coming," he added. "What's your name?"

Valka looked up him again to meet his inquisitive gaze. It was odd; everyone on this island knew who she was. Having only been there for twelve moons showed she wasn't a native, but she had been long enough to become a regular who everyone had seen often.

She scrunched up her eyebrows, and fought to breathe through her pain which was now blossoming full force in her right ankle. "Valka," she said. The boy nodded, wiped blood from her lips, and then looked up to greet whoever had been running towards them.

"I'm Gobber, pleasure to meet you," he whispered into her ear. He maintained his gaze with the others, but his lips quirked into a small smile in a silent hello.

"Nice to meet you too," she whispered back.

Gobber's smile faltered as the strangers started bombarding them with questions like, "How did you find her?" "Do you reckon she fell?" "What's her name?" "Oh, so that's Baldir's daughter, ain't it." All of which Gobber helpfully answered with whatever information he could. Given that he didn't see much, it wasn't surprising that that small troop fell silent at the mention of her father.

"Well," Gobber said at last, "I say we get her to her house, and have her father call the healer, then we can all go home before evening and supper time is upon us."

The men, who must have been considerably older than Gobber, nodded in agreement, and she soon found herself being carried by a random villager whom see had seen but never met before, back the way she came not two hours before.

Once last glance showed Gobber walking up the steps to the dining hall, where he paused half way up to turn and wave to her. She wished she could have had a few seconds more with him, she had forgotten to thank him for helping her.

* * *

The wind furiously pulled her hair in every which direction, eliciting a grunt from her as she fought to control it. "Valla," she cursed. The strong force had blown her hair out of a pristine bun which she had spent all morning putting it in. "Curse it all, the island's ridiculous weather…"

She stopped as a familiar voice reached her ears, "Valka!"

She turned then huffed as more hair was blown into her line of sight. As she held it back by her finger tips, which had grown numb in the biting cold, she smiled as the familiar frame of Stoik came into view. "Stoik!" She greeted cheerfully, "what a pleasant surprise!"

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**Don't hate me, please.**

**I promise more updates that are quicker. **

**Have a great day, please read and REVIEW. -SFHD**


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